June 15, 2019 by Francisco Castillo
Potentially one of the biggest issues in the modern world is not having enough time. But what does that really mean?
Having enough time for what? To perform all the regular tasks that seem feasible within the realm of human functions? And to then allocate a mental timeframe that could potentially look adequate for such tasks? And yet, over and over, the consensus is that time just flies by. It gets washed away, wasted somewhere between “I just woke up” and “I am getting ready to go to sleep again”.
The present is all everyone has. Nothing more. Time is just a useful unit of measure that enables some coordination.
Instead, if the focus could be placed on “attention” as opposed to “time”, the angle to get things done shifts to more advantageous grounds. The race against the clock changes from “how long does it take?” to “is this what I want to do?” In that way, the attention is focused on the essential, and the rest is discarded.
To focus on the essence, and to discard the rest is an ability that requires discipline. But with a little bit of practice, this skill can be incredibly valuable in developing emotional intelligence to improve your regular day.
Also, focusing on the essential with the main objective of discarding everything else is a practice that can save a lot of memory bytes. To start applying this concept, a full life doesn’t have to be examined all at once. It could begin with manageable items, working gradually.
For example. When making the decision on whether to purchase a car or not. First-order thinking will focus on the benefits and the convenience of having a car. A great majority will stop there. Car = convenience, therefore, move to the next step. Where can I find my dream car.
Second-order thinking is omitted, until it comes back with a vengeance probably way after the decision of purchasing the vehicle has been made. Unbeknownst to the newly dream car owner, a full list of things that “take” time has been created.
A list of second-order thinking items looks like this:
● Car maintenance ● Car insurance selection ● Oil change schedule ● Winter tire schedule ● Tire rotation schedule ● Monthly payments ● Gasoline ● Share ride on weekends? ● Traffic / rush hours ● Driver’s license test/renewal ● Parking tickets ● Speeding tickets ● Texting and driving ● Call on speaker while driving ● Watching a video (with commercials) while driving ● Zone parking permit request/renewal ● Car price depreciation ● My turn to pick up my friends? ● Tire pressure ● Windshield washer fluid ● Windshield wipers ● Windshield defroster ● Windshield replacement ● Lateral mirrors replacements ● Car dent plunger ● Car vacuum ● Owner’s manual ● Cops ● Oil filter ● Car battery ● Charging stations ● CO2 emissions ● Jumper cables ● Rain ● Snow ● Rainy snow ● Night driving ● Making a yellow light ● GPS directions ● Squeaky breaks ● Lane changes ● Parallel parking ● Ice ● Fog ● Animal crossings ● Car theft ●
What seemed like an easy transaction to enhance convenience has turned into an array of cognitive puzzles that drain the mental powers bit by bit. Is it possible now to quantify all the time and energy devoted to everything car related? Space that was either unassigned or assigned to something else?
By not having a motorized vehicle, the thinking resources for about 99% of these items are reduced to zero. Such resources are now ready to be reallocated. One could argue that in some places it is absolutely necessary to have a car. This could be left for another thought exercise. Probably preempting the vehicle decision, analyzing one by one until you get to ultra-simplify your life.
Today, it becomes equally important to focus on the things that are not being done to make space and resources to the things that you want to really do and are considered essential in your life. With this approach you can stop worrying about not having enough time and gradually start taking conscious control once more. This is the type of control that allows you to have the power of choice, and this power is timeless.
stonemonolith.com 